Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) Sets New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $36.55 and last traded at $36.56, with a volume of 4887746 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.54.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Melius upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Melius Research upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Southwest Airlines from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southwest Airlines from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.81.

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.6%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $21.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 1.21.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The airline reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 1.98%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.36) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Southwest Airlines Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Southwest Airlines's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southwest Airlines news, Director David P. Hess purchased 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.52 per share, with a total value of $198,900.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 23,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $614,097.12. The trade was a 47.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregg A. Saretsky purchased 3,670 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.29 per share, with a total value of $100,154.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 14,881 shares in the company, valued at $406,102.49. The trade was a 32.74% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 196.3% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 889 shares of the airline's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the period. Pandora Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Southwest Airlines by 78.6% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the airline's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the period. 80.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.